Transparent pouch with zipper access opening

ABSTRACT

A clear plastic pouch is in the form of a generally parallelepiped container having a zipper mechanism which extends along at least a portion of the lateral sides of the pouch and across the top of the pouch.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In a principal aspect the present invention relates to a pouch and, more particularly, to a pouch made of clear plastic material such as a polyvinylchloride sheet which is configured and designed to carry multiple, lightweight, plastic, travel bottles of liquids or gels in an organized fashion and to facilitate their inspection by Transportation Safety Administration personnel.

With the advent of concerns regarding air travel safety, the United States Federal Government has established the Travel Safety Administration which is responsible, inter alia, for inspecting the luggage items that travelers carry with them on airlines. Recent requirements by the government mandate that only limited amounts of liquids and/or gels may be carried onto a passenger aircraft. The mandate further requires that the individual containers for such items must not exceed three ounces and that the containers must be placed in a one quart, clear plastic pouch.

To comply with these regulations, various products have been introduced into the marketplace. One product introduced by Paridis provides for a clear polyvinylchloride pouch with a slide zipper opening along one side. The pouch is designed to house four, three ounce containers. Another similar product is fabricated from a polyvinylchloride sheet with a zip-top opening. These products are quite useful, but access to the interior of the pouch is often difficult. Thus, there has developed a need for an improved travel pouch.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Briefly, the present invention comprises a travel pouch which is a generally parallelepiped, polyvinylchloride, clear plastic, flexible sidewall container or pouch. The separate panels forming the pouch are thermo or hot welded or heat sealed to each other. A zipper opening is provided which extends partially along opposite lateral or end sides and the top side of the pouch. The panels forming the pouch thus include a first side panel, a second side panel, a connecting zipper sub-panel which joins the first panel to the second panel and incorporates the described zipper. The connecting panel is comprised of a connecting sub-panel which joins the first and second panels and overlies the opposite ends of a zipper sub-panel. The container includes modular sized, clear plastic bottles and/or jars which may be used for storage of liquids and/or gels.

Thus, it is an object of the invention to provide an improved travel pouch.

Another object of the invention is to provide a clear, flexible plastic pouch generally in the form of a parallelepiped having an improved access opening.

A further object of the invention is to provide a rugged, yet highly functional plastic pouch which may be used for carrying multiple containers of liquid and/or gel materials.

These and other objects, advantages and features of the invention will be set forth in the detailed description which follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

In the detailed description which follows, reference will be made to the drawing comprised of the following figures:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a first embodiment of the travel pouch of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a pattern depicting the component parts of the pouch of FIG. 1 prior to assembly of the pouch;

FIG. 3 is an isometric view of an alternative embodiment;

FIG. 4 is an isometric view of another alternative embodiment; and

FIG. 5 is an isometric view of another alternative embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF AN EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIG. 1, a first embodiment is depicted. The pouch of the invention is typically comprised of precut polyvinylchloride clear plastic, flexible sheets. The component parts include a generally rectangular first side panel 20, a generally congruent second side panel 22, a third panel comprised of a first strip 24 with a zipper element or teeth 26 attached thereto and a second strip 28 with compatible zipper element or teeth 30 heat sealed thereto. Further, there is included a transverse sub-panel 32 which is utilized to join the first panel 20 with second panel 22. Zipper control member or pull 38 is compatible with the zipper elements 26 and 30. The joined zipper elements comprise a zipper sub-panel.

The first panel 20 includes a top side 40, a bottom side 42, a first lateral side 44 and a second lateral side 46. Similarly, the second panel 22 includes a top side 48, a bottom side 50, a first lateral side 52 and a second lateral side 54. The sides are formed in the shape of a rectangle with curved or arcuate corners such as the corner 56 of the second panel 22.

The zipper element 26 is heat sealed to a longitudinal edge 60 of the first strip 24. The edge 60 is spaced from and typically parallel to an outside edge 62 of the strip 24. In a similar manner, the zipper element 30 is heat sealed to a longitudinal edge 66 of strip 28. Strip 28 includes an outside edge 68. The edges 66 and 68 are also generally parallel and the combination of the zipper element 26 and first strip 24 is substantially identical to the combination of the zipper element 30 and second longitudinal strip 28.

The zippered strips 24 and 26 are then connected by means of the zipper, element or mechanism or pull 38. The combination of the first and second strips 28 and 24 are heat sealed to the top side 40 of first panel 20 and the top side 48 of the second panel 22. Thus, strip 24 and, more particularly, the outside edge 62 is heat sealed to top edge 40. Similarly, the top edge 48 is heat sealed to the longitudinal side edge 68 of strip 28. The longitudinal side edges of the strip 24 are further heat sealed to the side edges 44 and 46 of the first panel 20. In like manner, the lateral side longitudinal edge 68 of the strip 28 is heat sealed to the lateral side edges 52 and 54, respectively. In this manner, the zipper mechanism comprised of the zipper elements 26 and 30 fit along a portion of the side edges as well as the top edge of the first and second panels 20 and 22.

The third or connecting panel 32 is designed to form the bottom of the pouch. That is, the third panel 32 includes a first lateral side 70 and a generally parallel second lateral side 72. The sides 70 and 72, respectively, are heat sealed to the bottom edge 50 of panel 22 and 42 of panel 20. The lateral sides 70 and 72 of the third panel 32 also are heat sealed to the lateral side edges 52, 54, 44 and 46, respectively of the second panel 22 and first panel 20. Heat sealing the first, second and third panels together thus forms a pouch.

In fabricating the pouch, it is important to attach the strips 24 and 28 to the first and second panels 20 and 22. Thereafter, the third panel 32 is attached or affixed so that the outer opposite ends 76 and 78 of the third panel 32 will overlap the ends of the strips 24 and 28 which have been affixed to the panels 20 and 22. This is important so that outer ends 76 and 78 may be heat sealed to the outer ends of the strips 24 and 28 as well as to the zipper mechanism 26 and 30 at the outer ends thereof. Thus, as shown in FIGS. 1-4 there is formed a generally parallelepiped sealed enclosure.

The volume of the enclosure is approximately one quart. Access to the enclosure is achieved by operating the zipper pull mechanism 38. Notably the zipper pull mechanism 38 may be moved along a portion of each of the lateral side edges, as well as the top side of the formed pouch. This improves access to the interior of the pouch. The configuration of the pouch having the connecting panels comprised of strips 24 and 28 as well as the third sub-panel 32 facilitates access to the pouch.

As an optional feature, a flap may be incorporated with one of the panels. For example, the second panel 22 may include a flap 80 with an opening 82 therein. The flap 80 may therefore be used for purposes of display of the item at a retail outlet. Alternatively, the flap 80 may be retained on the pouch and used for purposes of hanging of the pouch in the usable place.

Dimensionally, the pouch is approximately six to eight inches wide from side to side and four to five inches in height. The width of the pouch is approximately in the range of one to two inches.

The pouch is designed to contain or maintain a number of modularly sized bottles such as bottles 86, 88 and 90. The bottles 86, 88 and 90 are designed to hold creams, liquids and the like. The bottles 86, 88 and 90 are sized to contain no more than approximately three ounces of material.

FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 illustrate alternative embodiments of the invention. The alternative embodiments each include first and second side walls such as side walls 100 and 102 in FIG. 3. Additionally, each of the embodiments include a closed loop connecting wall 104 which is heat sealed around its peripheral edges to the first wall 100 and second panel 102 to form a generally rectangular parallelepiped construction.

The embodiments of FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 differ, however, with respect to the manner in which the zipper access opening is connected with the pouch. In each instance, however, the zipper access opening is comprised of a zipper assembly which includes opposed intermeshing teeth forming a zipper connection 106 which will open and close in response to a zipper pull 108. The zipper teeth which join together to form the zipper connection 106 are associated respectively with side strips 110 and 112. The end of the zipper run is limited by a connecting rivet or bridging member such as bridging member 114 and 116 for the embodiment of FIG. 3. The embodiment of FIG. 4 also includes such a bridging element 114 and 116. The embodiment of FIG. 5 includes a different zipper construction which is described hereinafter. Referring therefore to FIGS. 3 and 4 and first to the embodiment of FIG. 3, the zipper assembly which includes the zipper teeth and the side 106 and the side strips 110 and 112 are heat sealed or heat welded to the connecting loop 104 along a heat seal boundary 120. Thus, the strips 110 and 112, as well as the connecting loop 104 are typically formed from a polyvinylchloride plastic material which may be heat sealed to join the elements. The pattern of the heat seal in FIG. 3 is such that the boundary is located slightly beneath the joinder or connecting member 114 and 116. Thus, a boundary element 122 is positioned below the connector 114 and the boundary element 124 is positioned below the connector element 116. The boundary thus comprises a circumferential loop which effects the attachment of the zipper assembly to the remaining elements and more particularly to the loop connecting member 104. In the embodiment of FIG. 4 a boundary element 130 is similarly positioned to that as depicted in FIG. 3. The boundary element 130, however, comprises a generally continuous closed loop configuration.

Referring to FIG. 5, the connecting bars such as the bars 114 and 116 of FIG. 3 are eliminated. Thus, the disclosed or depicted zipper assembly 107 is limited in its potential movement between an opened and closed position by the boundary 140 which defines the heat seal boundary of the zipper assembly 107 to the closed loop 104. In each instance, however, the closed loop 104 includes a slotted region defined by the boundary, for example, the boundary 140 in FIG. 5 which serves to attach to the zipper assembly and more particularly to the strips forming the zipper assembly. The overlapping of the closed loop section with the zipper strips provides for a good seal and a good construction which is rugged and maintains its shape and configuration. In each embodiment the zipper assembly extends along the lateral sides of the closed loop as well as the top side of the closed loop 104. This provides for improved access opening to the container or pouch. The zipper pull 108 thus may be moved to open the pouches by unzipping along the lateral top and opposite lateral sides of the pouch.

It is possible to vary the construction and configuration of the pouch and the containers enclosed therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The array and number of bottles 86 88 and 90 may be varied. The position of the hanging flap 80, as well as the configuration of the hanging flap 80, may be varied. The dimensional characteristics of the pouch may be varied somewhat, however, the parallelepiped configuration along with the dimensional characteristics set forth constitutes a desired approach. The invention, therefore, is to be limited only by the following claims and equivalents thereof. 

1. A flexible, multi-sided transparent wall pouch including a single access zippered opening comprising, in combination: a generally rectangular parallelepiped pouch comprised of at least a first generally planar, transparent, flexible plastic panel having a generally rectangular configuration with a top side, a bottom side and opposite lateral sides; a second panel substantially identical to the first panel, said first and second panels each having a top side edge with a top side dimension and said first and second panels having a circumferential dimension; a third panel comprised of first and second elongate strips of flexible plastic material, each strip having an inner longitudinal boundary connected by a zipper mechanism and an outer longitudinal boundary generally parallel to the inner boundary, said elongate strips having a longitudinal dimension greater than the top side dimension of the first and second panels; said third panel having a dimension transverse to the longitudinal boundaries; and a fourth panel comprising an elongate strip with a transverse dimension, a first end, a second end, and a longitudinal dimension, said outer boundaries of said first and second elongate strips of said third panel heat sealed with respectively to the top side and opposite lateral sides of the first and second panels; and said fourth panel longitudinal boundaries heat sealed respectively to the bottom side and opposite lateral sides of the first and second panels with the first end and second end thereof overlying in part and heat sealed respectively to the opposite ends of the third panel, whereby said zipper opening is continuous and extends along a portion of each lateral side and the top side of the first and second panels to provide zippered access to the interior of the pouch.
 2. The pouch of claim 1 further including a plurality of generally rigid sided separate containers therein.
 3. The pouch of claim 1 further including a flap extension of one of said first and second front and back panels, said flap extension including a hanger opening therethrough.
 4. The container of claim 1 further including a plurality of modular sized generally rigid containers dimensioned in combination to occupy the space between the side edges of the first and second panels.
 5. The container of claim 3 wherein the flap extension extends from a side edge of the second panel. 